Denge Josef Onoh, former Southeast spokesman of President Bola Tinubu’s campaign, has warned the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) of ‘catastrophic consequences’ if the Rainbow Coalition of Nyesom Wike, Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, wins significant seats in 2027.
In a statement made available to journalists in Abuja, Onoh demanded an immediate institutional response from the President and leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to Wike regarding his response to Progressives Governors.
‘While this amorphous coalition attempts to dress itself in the fine robes of an absolute loyalist vehicle designed to deliver President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s 2027 re-election bid, its operational footprint tells a completely different story,’ he said.
Onoh said the Rainbow Coalition is a political mirage and a calculated parallel power machine.
‘If the APC leadership does not take immediate steps to contain this movement, the ruling party is actively funding, sheltering, and nurturing the very platform that will fragment and destroy it by 2031.’
Onoh said that the strategy of the Wike-led coalition is simple yet devastating.
‘By preparing to field candidates across the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and other peripheral platforms for governorship, Senate, and House of Representatives seats ahead of the 2027 elections, Wike is building an autonomous political empire under the nose of the ruling party by playing the 2027 numbers game aimed at Stripping APC of Legislative and State Autonomy.
‘If Wike’s Rainbow coalition wins significant seats in 2027, the consequences for the APC will be catastrophic because wike aims to kill Independent Governance and should his coalition secure a commanding swing-bloc majority in the National Assembly, the APC will lose its legislative independence.’
Wike will instantly become the ultimate kingmaker. The presidency will be forced into a perpetual state of political blackmail and horse-trading just to elect principal officers, pass budgets, or screen executive nominees.
Onoh warned that Wike’s target is to create an erosion of the APC Grassroots by capturing APC-held or contested governorship seats.
‘Wike will secure control over state resources and party machineries, completely insulating his loyalists from federal dependence and hollowing out the APC’s grassroots base.’
Onoh warned that Wike is not inventing a new political philosophy; rather he is executing a time-tested Nigerian political textbook.
Onoh warned President Bola Tinubu that same way he maintained a fiercely independent regional stronghold in the South-West, built legislative leverage, and ultimately forced a grand merger with Muhammadu Buhari’s northern bloc to form the APC and displace the PDP, Wike is playing the same long game.
‘He is keeping his structures outside the APC, using federal cabinet prestige to build leverage, and waiting for the opportune moment to dictate the terms of a forced realignment.’
Onoh said Politics is entirely governed by interest and long-term calculation.
‘The endgame for the Wike-led Rainbow Coalition is not 2027; it is the post-Tinubu transition in 2031.’
Onoh warned that come 2031, when the presidential ticket naturally rotates back to the North, the Southern Vice-Presidential slot will be the ultimate prize.
‘Wike’s strategic goal is to build such an unassailable network of governors, senators, and reps by 2027 that the APC will have no choice but to bow to his terms. He will present his coalition as the sole bridegroom of the South, effectively coercing the party into yielding the Vice-Presidential ticket to him or his proxy.’
Onoh reminded all members of APC that they must not forget that by 2031, Wike will still be in his early 60s-a prime, potent age in contemporary Nigerian politics.
‘Securing the Vice-Presidency in 2031 gives him the ultimate state-funded platform to dominate the national landscape and potentially launch a presidential bid beyond 2031.’
‘The Progressive Governors Forum (PGF), under the clear-sighted leadership of Governor Hope Uzodimma, is entirely justified in its structural resistance to this parallel arrangement.
‘The APC does not need a ‘Rainbow Coalition’ to win elections; the party possesses the machinery, the track record, and the footprint to deliver the President’s mandate independently.’
Onoh warned that the time for diplomatic silence was over. And asked the President and the National Working Committee of the APC as a matter of extreme urgency must compel Wike to make a definitive choice: either formally fold his structures into the APC as a card-carrying member, Resign his position as a minister and focus on being an opposition or cease operating a parallel political machine that undermines the party’s candidates.
‘If we fail to contain this Trojan Horse today, we are giving him the keys to dismantle the APC house tomorrow,’ Onoh concluded.